For professional oil tank cleaning companies, mechanical cleaning equipment is an important tool for delivering projects.
The practical problem, however, is that tank cleaning projects rarely occur continuously or evenly throughout the year.
When a project comes in, the equipment needs to be on site quickly; when there is no project, the equipment may sit idle. Faced with this typical project-based demand, whether to purchase a complete equipment set outright or to rent according to the specific project has become a question many cleaning companies need to consider.
For companies whose project volume fluctuates and whose equipment needs vary from project to project, "renting by project" offers a more flexible option.
01 Cleaning projects create demand, but the equipment does not necessarily need to be owned long term
Oil tank cleaning is usually carried out in line with tank inspection and maintenance, periodic cleaning, changes of stored product or the tank owner's project schedule.
For a cleaning company, the number of projects may vary from one period to another. If a complete set of mechanical cleaning equipment is purchased to meet phased project demand, then besides the upfront equipment investment there is a practical question to consider:
How many times will the equipment actually be used in a year?
When project volume is unstable, low equipment utilisation can lead to long periods of idleness.
For cleaning companies whose business is mainly project-based, renting equipment according to actual demand can therefore meet project needs while reducing the pressure of upfront equipment investment and idle equipment. This is also one of the key problems Tecway Industrial's equipment rental business currently sets out to solve.
02 Different projects need different equipment configurations
Tank cleaning is not a case of "one equipment set fits every job".
Differences in tank capacity, tank type, stored product and site conditions lead to different requirements for cleaning equipment and working methods.
For example, large tanks and tanks below 10,000 m³ may have different needs in terms of equipment size, site layout and the specific cleaning method.
Tecway Industrial's equipment rental business can currently configure equipment for the specific project. Tanks below 10,000 m³ cover scenarios such as refined oil product tanks, chemical storage tanks and small crude oil tanks in oilfields, with internal floating roof tanks being one of the key applications.
From this perspective, the value of the rental model is not simply "saving a purchase".
More importantly: the equipment configuration is chosen to suit the current project, rather than making the project adapt to equipment that has already been bought.
03 "Renting by project" should mean more than renting a machine
For mechanical cleaning equipment to be truly effective, it also needs to match site conditions and the work plan.
How the equipment is configured, how personnel operate it and which cleaning process is used can all directly affect project delivery.
Equipment rental therefore cannot simply be understood as "delivering a machine to site".
To meet actual project needs, in addition to cleaning equipment Tecway Industrial can also provide:
operator training, remote technical guidance, and work plans, cleaning plans and process recommendations.
In other words, the core of "renting by project" is not just obtaining a set of equipment, but obtaining, around the current project:
Equipment + technical support + plan recommendations
For companies that already have their own cleaning crews but temporarily lack suitable mechanical equipment or technical support for a particular project, this form of cooperation is also more flexible.
04 When is "renting by project" worth considering?
Neither purchasing nor renting equipment is absolutely better; the key is the company's own business situation.
If cleaning projects are stable over the long term and equipment is used frequently, owning equipment makes sense.
But if a company faces the following situations, equipment rental can be an option:
- Project volume fluctuates, and the equipment is not used continuously over the long term;
- A new tank type or cleaning project has been taken on that existing equipment cannot yet cover;
- The company has its own work crew but needs to add mechanical cleaning equipment;
- The company wants to verify the suitability of equipment and processes on an actual project before deciding on further investment.
For project-based business, the question that really needs answering is not necessarily: "Must this equipment set be bought outright?"
But rather: "When this project comes in, can I get suitable equipment and technical support for it in time?"
Mechanical tank cleaning equipment rental and cleaning services
Built around mechanical tank cleaning needs, Tecway Industrial offers two lines of business: equipment rental and cleaning services.
Equipment rental
For oil tank cleaning companies and engineering service providers, equipment can be configured according to tank type, project conditions and actual cleaning requirements. For companies whose project volume fluctuates and whose equipment use is phased, equipment can be configured flexibly by project, reducing one-off equipment investment and the pressure of long-term idleness.
Cleaning services
For owners and operators of tank farms such as oil depots, refineries, chemical companies and oilfields, mechanical tank cleaning project services can be provided based on tank type, stored product, site conditions and project requirements, with work and cleaning plans developed for actual operating conditions.
About Tecway Industrial
Tecway Industrial System Limited, formerly Tecway International (Petrochemical) Limited, was founded in Hong Kong in 1995; Beijing Tecway Xuyang Industrial Equipment Co., Ltd. is its subsidiary registered in Beijing.
Tecway Industrial System Limited and Beijing Tecway Xuyang Industrial Equipment Co., Ltd. mainly provide services related to the import of equipment for industries such as oil and gas storage and transportation and petrochemicals. As consultants and distributors, after careful selection we provide our customers with practical, high-quality and cost-effective solutions, with products sourced from reputable suppliers around the world.
Tecway Industrial | Storage & Transportation Safety
Website: tecwayintl.com
Email: jacky.xiong@tecwayintl.com